What is a meteor?
A meteor is a meteoroid – or a particle broken off an asteroid or comet orbiting the Sun – that burns up as it enters the Earth’s atmosphere, creating the effect of a “shooting star”.
Most comets are composed of dust and ice, which can be likened to ‘a big, dirty snowball.’ Nearly all meteors are tiny dust particles, about the size of a grain of sand travelling at tens of kilometres per second through space. If a meteor survives its transit of the atmosphere to come to rest on the Earth’s surface, the resulting object is called a meteorite. A meteor striking the Earth or other object may produce an impact crater. The fastest meteors travel at speeds of 71 kilometers (44 miles) per second. Scientists think up to 50 metric tons of meteors fall on the Earth each day, but most are no bigger than a pebble.
Meteoroids are lumps of rock or iron that orbit the sun. Most meteoroids are small fragments of rock created by asteroid collisions. Comets also create meteoroids as they orbit the sun and shed dust and debris.
When a meteoroid enters the Earth’s upper atmosphere, it heats up due to friction from the air. The heat causes gases around the meteoroid to glow brightly, and a meteor appears. Meteors are often referred to as shooting stars or falling stars because of the bright tail of light they create as they pass through the sky. Most meteors occur in Earth’s mesosphere, about 50-80 kilometers (31-50 miles) above the Earth's surface.
Even the smallest meteors are visible from many kilometers away because of how fast they travel and how brightly they shine. The fastest meteors travel at speeds of 71 kilometers (44 miles) per second.
The faster and larger the meteor, the brighter and longer it may glow. The smallest meteors only glow for about a second while larger and faster meteors can be visible for up to several minutes. Although thousands of meteors fall during the day, meteors are best observed at night, when the streaks of light are visible in the dark sky.
Meteors appear in different colors, depending on the chemical composition of the space rock and the air it is passing through. A meteor with high iron content, for instance, will appear yellow. A meteor with high calcium content may appear as a purple streak of light.
Scientists think up to 50 metric tons of meteors fall on the Earth each day, but most are no bigger than a pebble. Meteors that don’t burn up in the atmosphere strike Earth’s surface. These meteors are called meteorites.
Meteor Showers
Usually, just a few meteors are visible over the course of an hour, but sometimes the sky is filled with lights that look like heavenly fireworks. These meteor showers occur when the Earth passes through the orbit of a comet.
All the meteors in a meteor shower seem to come from one spot in the sky. This spot is called the radiant point, or simply the radiant. Meteor showers are named after the constellation in which their radiant appears. The source of the meteors is not the constellation, of course, but rather the comet from which they have broken off. For example, the Leonid meteor shower appears to produce meteors falling from the constellation Leo, but are actually debris from Comet Tempel-Tuttle.
A meteor is a meteoroid – or a particle broken off an asteroid or comet orbiting the Sun – that burns up as it enters the Earth’s atmosphere, creating the effect of a “shooting star”.
Most comets are composed of dust and ice, which can be likened to ‘a big, dirty snowball.’ Nearly all meteors are tiny dust particles, about the size of a grain of sand travelling at tens of kilometres per second through space. If a meteor survives its transit of the atmosphere to come to rest on the Earth’s surface, the resulting object is called a meteorite. A meteor striking the Earth or other object may produce an impact crater. The fastest meteors travel at speeds of 71 kilometers (44 miles) per second. Scientists think up to 50 metric tons of meteors fall on the Earth each day, but most are no bigger than a pebble.
Meteoroids are lumps of rock or iron that orbit the sun. Most meteoroids are small fragments of rock created by asteroid collisions. Comets also create meteoroids as they orbit the sun and shed dust and debris.
When a meteoroid enters the Earth’s upper atmosphere, it heats up due to friction from the air. The heat causes gases around the meteoroid to glow brightly, and a meteor appears. Meteors are often referred to as shooting stars or falling stars because of the bright tail of light they create as they pass through the sky. Most meteors occur in Earth’s mesosphere, about 50-80 kilometers (31-50 miles) above the Earth's surface.
Even the smallest meteors are visible from many kilometers away because of how fast they travel and how brightly they shine. The fastest meteors travel at speeds of 71 kilometers (44 miles) per second.
The faster and larger the meteor, the brighter and longer it may glow. The smallest meteors only glow for about a second while larger and faster meteors can be visible for up to several minutes. Although thousands of meteors fall during the day, meteors are best observed at night, when the streaks of light are visible in the dark sky.
Meteors appear in different colors, depending on the chemical composition of the space rock and the air it is passing through. A meteor with high iron content, for instance, will appear yellow. A meteor with high calcium content may appear as a purple streak of light.
Scientists think up to 50 metric tons of meteors fall on the Earth each day, but most are no bigger than a pebble. Meteors that don’t burn up in the atmosphere strike Earth’s surface. These meteors are called meteorites.
Meteor Showers
Usually, just a few meteors are visible over the course of an hour, but sometimes the sky is filled with lights that look like heavenly fireworks. These meteor showers occur when the Earth passes through the orbit of a comet.
All the meteors in a meteor shower seem to come from one spot in the sky. This spot is called the radiant point, or simply the radiant. Meteor showers are named after the constellation in which their radiant appears. The source of the meteors is not the constellation, of course, but rather the comet from which they have broken off. For example, the Leonid meteor shower appears to produce meteors falling from the constellation Leo, but are actually debris from Comet Tempel-Tuttle.
